Invention and use in the area of shaving devices is known to the public. However, while this invention uses the well known combination of straight razors and comb teeth to trim and thin hair, it employs them in a new configuration that effectively utilizes and maximizes the slicing effects of the blade, a capability that no prior art has yet attained.
The edge of a straight razor can generally be used in shaving and trimming in three different ways: scraping, chopping and slicing. In scraping, the blade edge of the razor attacks each hair or bristle in a relatively head-on manner, which results is tearing instead of angularly slicing the hairs to be removed. While this harsh treatment may be expected for uses such as plowing or grading a road, it seems out of place for hair removal on the face or any other area of the body. And yet, historically this is exactly the type of cutting motion that has been employed in standard safety razors. In fact, most close-shaving devices employ a combination of scraping and chopping to remove hair from an area.
Despite the common use of the scraping method of cutting, it is a well known fact that cutting blades generally provide superior cutting action when they are caused to slide along the object being cut while simultaneously advancing through it. This more gentle, effective manner of cutting is called slicing. In slicing, the blade approaches the individual hairs at an oblique angle, such that each hair is able to slide along the blade while being severed.
Thus, John Dunham modified the design of the shaving device with his Safety-Razor, U.S. Pat. No. 1,384,691 in 1921. His invention allowed for a safety razor in which the cutting edge of the blade was disposed at an oblique angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the handle. With this invention, downward pull on the handle causes the blade to travel with or against the grain of the beard, cutting the beard but not scraping the skin. Dunham's invention also included a blade holder that could be set at any angle parallel to the surface of the human face, thereby allowing the blade to be positioned to cut either with or against the grain of the beard. A similar multi-positionable razor attempting to eliminate the scraping effect and utilize the slicing motion was introduced by Garron Gordon in U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,160 in 1976.
Over time, there have been several other attempts to create a razor capable of utilizing the slicing effect. Ramon Estandian's invention of U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,103 issued in 1978 details a razor that includes two shaft members with gears that mesh together so as to allow the head to rotate. Similarly, in 1991 Terril Hardin introduced U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,614 that disclosed a comparable rotatable razor assembly with a splined circular recess and a splined stub member allowing the head unit to be rotatably oriented in a single plane relative to the handle unit. Terrance Hendrickson also introduced a razor assembly that attempted to eliminate the scraping/chopping combination and move toward a slicing feature in U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,991 introduced in 1992. His razor configuration included a rearward mounting boss with a rearwardly oriented disc-like mating face formed from a plurality of radial grooves and ridges. When the mating faces are put intermeshed together, the shaving head assembly is adjustable by indexed rotation of the mating face of one assembly with respect to the other.
Unfortunately, this use of the slicing principle has a very small use in practical application because of the more prevalent danger of cutting the skin while employing the razor for skin-close shaving. Thus, it seems that the slicing abilities of a razor would be better utilized in conjunction with comb teeth for non-close type shaving, such as trimming and thinning of hair. However, to date there has been no prior art suggesting a configuration that effectively positions the blade and comb in such a way so as to utilize the slicing capacity of the blade.
One of the first blade and comb trimming assemblies was introduced U.S. Pat. No. 2,165,391 by Harrison Lewis in 1939. His invention detailed a blade and comb combination that could be readily attached to any commercial type of safety razor. This invention allowed for simultaneously combing, thinning and trimming hair symmetrically so as to not leave the hair in a uneven or ragged condition.
Another trimming device is evidenced in U.S. Pat. No. 3,358,367 to Samuel Bartley in 1967. His invention includes a bladeholder with two opposite edges, which are under corresponding reverse oblique and overlapping surfaces in fixed relation to a plane surface. The friction between the oblique surfaces is controlled by adjustments holding the bladeholder and blade tightly upon the plane surface and permitting them to reciprocate in directions parallel to the oblique surfaces.
Phung's U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,709,475 and Spanel's 3,803,712 further illustrate devices designed to employ a straight-edge razor and a series of comb teeth to trim hair. However, none of the prior art utilizes the more effective slicing abilities of the blade. Rather, they all cause the hairs to meet the blade in a head-on chopping manner due to the relationship of the comb teeth to the razor edge. This prevents the hairs from sliding along the blade, and thus, they must be chopped, not sliced.
A previous trimming device introduced by the instant inventor was detailed in the abandoned patent application Ser. No. 08/043,289 in 1993. This invention sought to employ an adjustable blade and comb assembly to trim hair by utilizing the slicing abilities of the blade.
However, this application, as well as much of the prior trimming art, incurred a serious problem evident in much of the prior art. The common problem is that the assembly provides a stiff, unyeilding resistance of the blade when it engages the hair, thereby pulling the hair and causing pain. The setting of the blade at an angle from the skin is alone not enough to overcome the pulling problem.
Thus, there is a need for a trimming device that effectively and simply utilizes the comb and blade assembly in such a way so as to maximize the slicing ability of the razor while eliminating the pulling resistance on the hair. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.